Adapting your home to age or disability: level-access showers and other adaptations

Staying at home for as long as possible often comes down to a few well-planned works. The bathroom is the priority: it is the room where falls are most frequent. A state grant, MaPrimeAdapt', covers part of the cost of these adaptations.

The most useful adaptations

• A level-access shower in place of the bath, with a non-slip floor, a fold-down seat and thermostatic taps.
• Grab rails in the shower and by the toilet, fixed into a solid support.
• A bedroom and shower room on the ground floor, so you no longer depend on the stairs.
• Wider doorways and thresholds removed, to move around with a walking frame or a wheelchair.
• Better lighting, with illuminated switches and night-time guide lights.
• A stairlift when the upper floor remains essential.

MaPrimeAdapt'

This grant from the Anah, the French national housing agency, is intended for people aged 70 and over, people aged 60 to 69 with a loss of independence and people with a disability, whether owner-occupiers or tenants, subject to income conditions. It covers 50% or 70% of the works depending on income, up to €22,000 excluding VAT of works. Support from an approved project assistant is compulsory, and the application must be submitted before the works begin. Up-to-date conditions can be checked on anah.gouv.fr or france-renov.gouv.fr.

A wide range of works is covered: electric stairlift, a shower in place of a bath, grab rails, raised toilets, kitchen adaptations, motion-sensor lighting, widening of corridors and the front door, access ramp, roller shutters. The grant can be combined with local grants, the disability compensation allowance and energy renovation grants.

The steps, in the right order

1. Call a France Rénov' adviser (0 808 800 700, free service) with your latest tax notice.
2. Have the project assistant carry out an assessment of the home, which identifies your actual needs.
3. Request quotes, based on that assessment.
4. Submit the application online on the Anah website, then wait for approval before starting: works begun too early can no longer be funded.
5. Carry out the works in line with the quote, then send the invoices so that the grant can be paid.

New builds: accessibility from the outset

Building regulations require new homes to be accessible or easy to adapt: some of them must have a shower room with an accessible shower on completion, and the others must be convertible through simple works. Building with this in mind costs far less than adapting later.

Beware of cold calling

Mistakes to avoid

• Signing a quote and starting the works before the Anah has given its approval: the grant may then be refused.
• Fixing grab rails into a simple partition wall: without reinforcement, they come away just when you lean on them.
• Creating a walk-in shower without a sufficient fall: water overflows into the room and the floor becomes slippery.
• Forgetting to light the night-time route between the bedroom and the toilet: low-level guide lighting is often enough.
• Doing everything at once without thinking ahead: fitting reinforcements in the walls now means a rail can be added later without any works.

Thinking ahead, even before 70

When you redo a bathroom at 55 or 60, a few choices cost almost nothing extra: a level-access shower rather than a raised shower tray, a wider door, reinforcements in the partition walls, sockets and switches at the right height. The day the need arises, the house is already ready.

Our approach

We adapt bathrooms and living spaces while keeping the house attractive and welcoming: a successful adaptation should not look like a hospital room.

Sources : Anah, MaPrimeAdapt’ (conditions 2026) · service-public.gouv.fr, MaPrimeAdapt’ (bénéficiaires, plafonds de ressources, travaux, démarches) · Anah, guide « MaPrimeAdapt’, le mode d’emploi » · Loi n° 2018-1021 du 23 novembre 2018 « ELAN », article 64 (logements neufs accessibles ou évolutifs) · anah.gouv.fr · france-renov.gouv.fr